Motivational Monday: No Reason to Wait – Put in the Work Now!
“I’ll start it in the New Year.”
“Sounds like a great New Year’s resolution.”
“I’ll worry about it when the New Year comes along.”
‘Tis the season for New Year’s resolutions! We have arrived at the time of year where many people establish a resolution, whether it be eating healthier, exercising more, or saving more money. While coming up with a goal for the New Year is a great way to motivate yourself, it also brings up an important question: Why wait until January 1? Trained monk and American writer Jack Kornfield put it best when he said: “The trouble is, you think you have time.”
As swimmers, we are constantly instructed on ways to clock a new personal best. Maybe our underwaters need work, or our turns are sloppy. It’s these little details and bad habits, however, that are often the hardest to fix. Doing a few more dolphin kicks off of the wall will make your lungs feel empty and your legs resemle Jello. Cleaning up your turns will take a lot of mental focus during practice. It’s these challenges that often cause us to avoid making the necessary corrections. This idea becomes especially apparent in December, when swimmers claim that they will begin to fix the little details come the New Year.
But, the New Year is still nearly a month away! That’s a full month of training that could be spent improving the small aspects of your swimming that can make a big difference in the long run. Before you know it, when championship season rolls around, you will wish that you had an extra few weeks to fine tune the little details.
New Year’s resolutions are a fantastic way to help us set new goals. However, as swimmers, we know more than anyone that every second counts. We must look at New Year’s resolutions with the same mindset: If you’re going to make a change to help improve your swimming, why wait until January 1? Get the job done now!
Motivational Monday is a regular Swimming World feature designed to offer ideas for individuals seeking a spark.